Into the Fray
"Alright, time to get me a house," Emerald muttered as he strolled through the streets of the bustling town, doing his best to ignore the various stares coming his way.
Ponyville was a small town, famous for two things.
First: Being the home to the Elements of Harmony.
Second: Being one of the most friendly towns in Equestria.
Knowing both of those things, he should have expected his arrival to attract some attention. As friendly as it was, it was also a small town. Specifically one of those towns where most ponies within it were familiar with each other to some degree. Despite that, he knew if he hadn't been wearing his disguise, they wouldn't be anywhere near as welcoming. Ponies smiled and waved at him as he passed, a stark contrast to the way they'd treated some zebra who'd moved here about five years ago. It was only after some of the residents had trekked through some poison joke and confronted the zebra about the 'curse' she'd placed on them did any of them finally realize that they were being stupid.
Part of him wondered who this zebra was, as their name certainly hadn't been mentioned, but he ultimately shoved it from his thoughts.
Besides, the idea of a bunch of ponies running around, with whatever had happened to them, shouting about how the zebra had cursed them, was a funny idea to be honest.
He wondered who ran through poison joke in the first place.
Honestly, how does someone not recognize the blue flower? The Everfree Forest isn't the only place it grows, after all.
Then again, how many ponies in this town gave a shit about anything even associated with the Everfree?
He arrived at Town Hall a few minutes later, still ignoring the greetings he was receiving from the townsfolk.
Walking inside, the interior to the Town Hall was as much as he had expected. Beige walls and a beige ceiling were the norm, as well as the carpet of the same colour lining the floor. Off to the side, hanging upon the leftmost wall, was a large bulletin board with a few miscellaneous flyers dotting it.
There was a whitish pink mare sitting at the desk, her overly vivid blonde mane and tail spilling out behind her, staring straight into what may have been a fashion magazine, completely ignoring the bell atop the door ring as he entered. The disguised thestral walked up to her,
"Um, hello?" he asked, causing the mare in question to jerk upwards, startled, before she leveled a stare at him, "Sorry for the scare," he said, giving her a false smile, "I was hoping to rent or buy a house here." The mare stared at him for a moment, her white coat turning a faint pink the longer she stared.
"Well?" he asked, getting annoyed, "Are you gonna help or just stare at me like an idiot?" he snapped. She flinched slightly, the pink in her cheeks turning a much darker shade as she pointed to a door to her left.
"I-in there," she squeaked. Emerald nodded, walking over to the indicated door and went inside.
Upon entering the room, the only occupant, an older mare with a fading amber coat, looked up at him from behind her gold, half-rimmed glasses.
"Oh... hello?" she said, her tone becoming somewhat confused once she saw him, "How can I help you?"
"Hey," he began easily, walking forward, "you must be the mayor, right?" the mayor nodded, "Good. I'm Emerald Skies," he began, "I was sent here by the princesses to look over the Everfree," he said. He'd been debating how he'd introduce himself to the mayor from the moment he entered Ponyville proper. After all, he couldn't just walk in as a thestral. That would be completely idiotic and counterproductive to his plans.
It was a good thing he'd stopped by the Royal Archives before leaving, and discovered that the mayor in Ponyville had requested a few guards to watch the Everfree, all of which had been denied for some reason or another.
It made sense, of course. Giving the mare the partly false reason why he was there would almost guarantee her cooperation. And if it didn't, he could easily show her one of his badges, signifying that he was telling the truth.
"Wh-what?" she asked, stunned, before shaking her head and setting a stack of papers off to the side, "I-I wasn't aware! The princess didn't send any sort of message and-!"
"I'm supposed to be undercover," Emerald cut her off, "I just figured it'd be easier to tell you rather than go with the whole song and dance that is renting or buying a house regularly,"
"Of course, of course," she began, biting her lip, "I-if it's not too much trouble, could you give me some sort of proof? Like I said, there was no message, so..." she trailed off. Emerald gave her a nod and reached into his bag, bringing out a pair of badges.
One was golden, with blue silk adorning the front. Atop the blue silk was a golden sun in the likeness of the solar princess' cutie mark. Behind the sun was a pair of swords crossing. This badge was only given to members of Celestia's Elite Solar Guard.
The other, however, was almost the exact opposite. A silver back with a black silk lining the front, adorning as well by a silver crescent moon, much like Luna's mark. A pair of spears crossed underneath the moon. This badge could only be wielded by members of Luna's Elite Lunar Guard.
The mayor's face paled upon seeing the first badge, and paled even further when looking at the other, something he found rather funny.
Mayor Mare, however, was absolutely stunned. How could she believe it? Not only did she get a guard like she'd been hoping, but this pony was a member of not one, but both of the most well-trained guard units in all of Equestria!
And he was in her office right now!
She had sent several letters to the Canterlot Royal Guard asking if they could send a few down to Ponyville to keep things in check, but she was always rebuffed! Apparently the guards were under the impression that the Elements of Harmony could handle anything that came their way.
That was preposterous, she had thought. Those six mares had absolutely no training whatsoever! Sure Applejack had some experience with timberwolves every now and then, and even Rainbow Dash knew some self-defense, but the creatures of the Everfree, as well as whatever else that could come to town could very well turn out to be something they couldn't handle without an obscene amount of luck.
And that wasn't even taking into account the amount of trouble the mares themselves caused every now and again!
But now, her prayers had been answered! She'd met several Royal Guards before, but they couldn't hold a candle to this one! She could practically feel the professionalism oozing right out of him!
"W-well... I suppose that settles that," she murmured, looking away, before turning to the stack of papers, "We have a few houses available. Four, to be exact. But if you're supposed to look out over the Everfree, then this one," she pulled a paper from the middle of the stack, "should be fine."
She hoofed the paper over to him, and he took the time to look it over.
All in all, the mayor was right. The house was on the outskirts of Ponyville, right next to a hedge maze that was often used during Nightmare Night, which was coming up in a few months. It provided a wonderful excuse to keep any unwanted eyes from coming to check on him, as well as provided a good amount of privacy should he want to sharpen his skills. The maze would be good to practice stealth as well, though that was more of an afterthought than anything else.
"It's good," he finally said, speaking up once he was finished, "What's the cost?" The mayor swallowed a lump in her throat, before responding,
"Well... normally it'd be about 3,500 bits for that house but... you see our budget is stretched somewhat thin lately. Ever since the Summer Sun Celebration, crazy things have been happening in town. Some of them have caused a good bit of damage to the town, and we've had to spend a good bit of money to keep everything in working order."
"Get to the point."
"O-of course, sir. I'm trying to say that we can't exactly pay you ourselves, so I'd like to say that you won't have to purchase the house."
The declaration honestly surprised the thestral. Emerald had been partially expecting her to bump up the rent several times just to earn some extra money. Though it was an honest, and very welcome, surprise, and he'd be more than happy to take advantage of it.
He was feeling rather nice at the moment. A free house and a job that wouldn't have him running around Equestria like a headless chicken?
It was a good day, so far.
He was broken from his thoughts when he felt his stomach turn in hunger. He frowned slightly at the pain, but figured he might as well get something to eat. It had been a few weeks since he'd last had something, and, as much as he'd rather get right to work, he needed something to tie him over for another week or two. Possibly three. With that thought in mind, he strayed from the course to his new home, and headed to the nearby market.
The market was a busy place, he noted. Not as busy as Canterlot or Manehatten, of course, but still busy nonetheless.
He strolled through the market, keeping to the sidelines to avoid drawing attention to himself.
His efforts were in vain as, moments later, some odd pink mare suddenly appeared in front of him, gasped, then disappeared once more.
The amused, and somewhat pitying, looks that were thrown his way gave him the impression that, whatever had just happened, was commonplace. Shaking free of his confusion, he continued on his little hunt, before his eyes came to a small apple stand.
Inwardly he was rather excited. Apples had been his favourite fruit when he was young, and he hadn't had one in a long time.
He made his way over to the stand, which he noted was manned by a rather young filly. She was small, likely elementary school age. Her coat was a bright yellow, which went well with her crimson mane and tail and amber eyes. She also had an adorable, oversized red bow in her mane, which made her seem even smaller than she was, despite coming up to just under his torso.
She was cute. She actually reminded him of his own little sister, Whisper Moon.
He made a mental note to pay her a visit someday soon.
"Hello there," Emerald said, having walked into the filly's line of sight,
"Well howdy mister!" she called excitedly, her voice carrying a small, but charming, country accent, "Wanna buy an apple?" she asked. He chuckled slightly, before nodding,
"Yes, I do. How much for two?"
"Six bits!" the young filly said confidently, although the way her eyes suddenly darted to the sides were an obvious tell that she was, in fact, lying.
"Three bits an apple?" he asked, quickly honing in on the lie, though it wasn't out of malice, her attempt at deceit was actually rather amusing, "Isn't that a bit expensive?" he asked, smirking as he saw the sweat upon the filly's brow.
It didn't seem that she was comfortable with lying.
"Yer darn right it is!" a sudden voice interrupted the filly's response, this one carrying a more prominent accent. An orange mare appeared from behind the apple cart, her emerald eyes boring into the filly's, "Darnit Applebloom, I told ya, ya can't jus' raise the price of our apples!" she scolded the now named Applebloom. The mare sighed suddenly, looking up at Emerald. She lifted the large brown stetson that resided on her blonde mane away for a moment, "Sorry 'bout mah sis here, sugarcube. It's only two bits an apple. She's been tryin' ta get her cutie mark in sellin' things," the mare said, giving little Applebloom a rough pat on the head.
To her credit, little Applebloom seemed genuinely sorry for the attempted trick, so he easily brushed it aside.
He probably would've done the same as her anyways.
"It's no trouble," he said, feigning casualness, using the moment to commit the mare to memory. He'd done quite a bit of research upon the six Bearers, and he recognized the mare before him as Applejack, Bearer of the Element of Honesty.
If this mare was her sister, it wasn't a surprise to see why Applebloom was both bad at, and uncomfortable with, lying.
Though, for a moment, he wondered why this mare had such a problem with lying in the first place. Did it have something to do with her Element?
"Say..." Applejack said, leaning forward to inspect him further, also breaking him from his thoughts, "I don't recognize you. Are ya new in town?" she asked. Emerald glanced at the mare, giving her another quick once over, before finally responding.
"Why yes, yes I am. I just moved here today," he replied, having just finished inspecting her.
She was strong. That was what stood out to him the most. While not as strong as himself, or anyone in a similar position, she was a worker. Name aside, her appearance, coupled with her cutie mark, a trio of apples, made it obvious that this mare, as well as Applebloom, were members of the well-known Apple Family, a family almost obsessed with apple farming. It was apparent enough that he would've known even if he hadn't done any research. She had obviously worked her entire life, if not most of it, on a farm. Despite the muscle framing her body, he noted that her front legs weren't as defined as her back legs and hips. Her coat hid it, but he could see the toned muscle throughout her body lessen a bit as it neared the front. Turning his attention away from her muscled body, he noted her honest green eyes and friendly smile, and determined that she was an over-all kind mare, and, from the interaction with Apple Bloom, a caring older sibling as well. Her blonde mane and tail, which were tied at the ends, combined with her eyes, and the visible freckles underneath them gave her an air of natural beauty, despite the obvious lack of care for it. Standing a little below eye level with him, this was mare he might get along with.
"Well ain't that nice," she said, giving another friendly grin, "I hope ya like it here in Ponyville!"
"I appreciate the kind words," Emerald said, before fishing out six bits from his bag, "Anyhow, I'd like two apples. Keep the change," he said, dropping the six bits in front of little Applebloom.
The filly in question gave him a cheerful, but guilty, smile, taking the money and placing it the register as her older sibling hoofed the apples in question over to him. Applejack smiled at him once he had the apples in his hooves,
"That was mighty kind o'ya," she said, tipping her hat in his direction. He just shrugged in response,
"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, placing the apples in his bag, before he finally began walking off.
She was nice, he thought. But what he read of her, however, contradicted that somewhat. Or, rather, it further confirmed the fact that she was a kind mare. She had a temper, if he remembered right, one that could easily be triggered, especially by one of the other Elements. Specifically the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash.
Lost in thought he was at the moment, he immediately snapped out of it once he noticed something wrong. He'd been walking rather leisurely back to the house, and as such, he had yet to leave the town itself. Because of this, he managed to notice the sudden silence.
Looking around revealed to him that there was no one around. This served to confuse him, as he was entirely aware that this town was usually loud and bustling with activity. He frowned, his eyebrows furrowing in suspicion. Nothing had happened in the last few days that was particularly out of the ordinary. He knew he didn't have a smell, and it still wouldn't have been enough to completely clear the town if he did. He also hadn't done anything in town to warrant the disappearance of anyone, really.
Then again, he realized, he could be a bit grouchy. Perhaps he'd said or done something without even being aware?
He quickly re-traced his steps since coming into town, and even a bit before that.
Aside from glaring at a few ponies, the only things he'd done was head to Town Hall, buy some apples, and meet some weird pink mare whom everyone in town seemed to recognize-
... Perhaps this had something to do with her? He shook his head, ridding himself of the thought.
No, as odd as the pink mare seemed, there was no way anyone, aside from maybe the princesses, could clear out an entire town for one reason or another, especially in such a short amount of time. Besides, she had run away upon seeing him, and he knew she hadn't run back into town after that, as he'd been keeping tabs on his surroundings in case she returned. She had run from him on sight, after all, and that reaction caused him to be a little suspicious of the mare.
Did she recognize him from somewhere? Was she aware of who, and what, he was? Of what he'd done?
He'd see if he couldn't get any answers from her if he ever cornered the speedy mare.
He arrived at his new home. It was moderately sized and fit in with the town's overly colourful theme, with the walls being a bright sky blue, the roof being a cheerful yellow, and the door completely white.
All in all, it was decent.
However, he instantly knew that there was a heavy amount of activity from within the house. Somehow, someway, it seemed someone had managed to fit the entire fucking town into his new house! Music reached his ears from within the house, which set his worries at some ease.
Had the mayor saw fit to throw a party to celebrate something?
He glared at the front door for a minute, debating on whether to enter or not. As it stood, the day wasn't even half over and he just wanted to sleep. He'd have to be up all night and nearly all day if he was to do his job properly.
Eventually, exhaustion wore him down, and he pushing through the door into the house.
"SURPRISE!!" came the sudden, and very loud, shouting of what had to have been several hundred ponies. Emerald's ears instinctively flattened against his head, protecting him from the worst of the pain that shot through his skull. He just stared for a moment, watching as the ponies who'd shouted quickly began dispersing around the room, music starting up in the wake of their yell. The door closed behind him after a moment, and he sighed.
He quickly wove through the mass of bodies, before finding the stairs and quickly walked up them.
Unbeknownst to Emerald, a pair of bright, baby blue eyes had begun following him when they noticed he wasn't staying.
The mare the eyes belonged to frowned. She had been so busy making sure absolutely everything was perfect for the new pony in town that she totally forgot to say hello! Now he was gone and going to bed. She really wanted to go up and talk to him, but her Nana Pie had always taught her not to just barge into somepony else's room without permission. Besides, he looked super tired!
Oh well, she'd just surprise him with some of her super-duper-special-cupcakes the next time she saw him!
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Good Luck.
I'll be waiting for the next chapter.
9031912
Thanks for the luck, really. And I'm certainly looking forward to posting more for this story, so don't expect any delays any time soon.
I really hope you enjoy it later down the line.
Great chapter, keep it up
9034049
You don't need to tell me twice!
This is a paradoxical oxymoron. The only pony among the Solar Guard that could be called elite was Shining Armor and only because of his shields. All true elites are In the Lunar Guard as it is more dangerous at night. In fact, I find it likely that had Nightmare Moon not been a thing, it would have been Luna that he and Twilight would have been loyal to.
Something tells me that unless something extreme happens he is never going to like pinkie
/rant
So kinda off to a bad start character wise. Syntax is good and the story prompt isn't exactly bad but the main character has all the hallmarks of an irritatingly arrogant and agrandized gary stu. He acts like a jerk, has a very mercenary approach to most things including employment, yet has the official seal of two elite military branches at once despite his lack of professional tact or subtlety.
Then there is his odd snowflake race mix of what appears to be dragon and bat pony with eating habits that apparently let him go weeks without food while remaining active. He's presented as if his presence is a gift to those present and his antisocial and frankly rude behavior is largely dismissed.
That's to say nothing of the implied absolute trust he has by the diarchs directly over him for someone so openly displeased by Celestia that he lets it show while reporting in. Someone with his lack of discipline and senseless bluntness would fail whatever official training elite guards would need to work effectively as a unit and thus be considered for the role as raw talent and skill is no replacement for the trust gained by teamwork and a level head. One doesn't simply give malcontent loose cannons a central role in a nation's defense. The very idea that he works on mercenary commission as a guards brings his loyalty into question.
All that said... This story appears to be widely well received and I am utterly baffled by this, only thinking that maybe he gets less unbearable as the story goes on.
9543948
The reason why it's more of like well received is because he has major flaws and what he does and the fact is supposed to eat like a regular Pony it's just his routine changed his appetite like the author gave somewhat of a reason why he's like that in the explanation of after Shining Armor's training yes I do believe that he is very arrogant but the arrogance is to cover how fragile he really is
9543948
A few things. First, as an antisocial person, I can tell you that most if not all antisocial behavior is pretty much ignored, if it's even noticed, in day to day activities.
Second, its kinda nice to have a main character who does not blindly worship the ground Celestia walks on but also isn't a villain.
And finally, the princesses trust in him may be tied into my last point. Sometimes it's better to have a worker who doesn't like you rather than one who follows directions without questioning if that's the best/right/most efficient thing to do.
Apparently he has proven himself over and over during his work history so even with his dislike, they know that he will get the job done.
i am re-reading this